COPENHAGEN Zoo turned down offers from other zoos and $760,000 from a private individual to save the life of a healthy giraffe before killing and slaughtering it to follow inbreeding recommendations made by a European association.

The two-year-old male giraffe, named Marius, was put down using a bolt pistol and its meat will be fed to carnivores at the zoo, spokesman Tobias Stenbaek Bro said. Visitors, including children, were invited to watch while the giraffe was dissected.

Marius’ plight triggered a wave of online protests and renewed debate about the conditions of zoo animals. Before the giraffe was killed, an online petition to save it had received more than 20,000 signatures.

Stenbaek Bro said the zoo, which now has seven giraffes left, was recommended to put down Marius by the European Association of Zoos and Aquaria because there were already a lot of giraffes with similar genes in the organisation’s breeding program.

News_Image_File: Circle of life ... the carcass of Marius, a male giraffe, is eaten by lions after he was put down in Copenhagen Zoo.

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